You may only read this site if you've purchased Our Kampf from Amazon or Powell's or me
• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show

"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket

"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming

February 13, 2007

George Tenet Not Thinking This One Through

More George Tenet:

One person who has read early drafts of the book said Mr. Tenet defended himself by carefully parsing the “slam dunk” comment: he said he was not telling Mr. Bush that there was rock-solid evidence that Mr. Hussein had chemical and biological weapons, only that the president could make a “slam dunk” case to the American public about these weapons programs.

Uh. Hmm.

I don't think this is the best direction for Tenet to take this in. Given that it, you know, implies they were consciously fooling America.

Posted at February 13, 2007 05:22 PM | TrackBack
Comments

When the NBA first stated using glass backboards, I recall that they often shattered during games. Perhaps this was the kind of dunk to which Tenet was referring?

Posted by: Aaron Datesman at February 13, 2007 06:03 PM

That is a remarkable admission. Sort a P T Barnum moment.

Posted by: SPIIDERWEB™ at February 13, 2007 06:17 PM

Johnathan,

I disagree. I think that admitting that they were consciously fooling America is a great step. It's breathtakingly honest, and its what America needs to understand about this War, the administration and its backers.

Tenet, as a long time servant to power, knows exactly what he's implying- he's no fool. And more than likely he probably has more than enough evidence to prove that he was not culpable in his assigned role in deceiving the public.

If we look closely at the Woodward-Armitage conversation from the Libby trial Armitage says "We're clean as a fucking whistle."

This isn't just Armitage speaking for himself, he's talking about the old guard within the agency that wasn't aligned directly with the current war cabal.

The old guard elite knew this thing was going to blow up. They decided not to actively work against the administration, rather they did their jobs and got out of the way. Some of the more junior members like the Wilsons actively attempted to broadcast this reality to the wider world and were punished for it, but most just kept collecting chits from the casino knowing the could cash them in sometime down the road.

I for one am all for showing explicitly and clearly just how badly run things were under the "insane evil group" that has been running the country.

I am of course referring to your pronouncement form the November election, where the sane evil people took control from the insane evil people.

Posted by: patience at February 13, 2007 07:40 PM

Just another case of A RAT JUMPING SHIP. MY DAD, much like his FATHER, was a seafaring man, told me," When you see THE RATS coming up on deck, you might want to go down in the bilge and check the pumps, BEFORE the old tub rolls over".

Posted by: Mike Meyer at February 13, 2007 10:30 PM

Well, but this is the interpretation I had always assumed was intended, by both the speaker and the auditor. Doug Feith is offering precisely the same sort of argument, in his op-ed piece in the WaPo today: of course, he says, no one could ever have mistaken his 'product' for 'intelligence' -- sheesh!! He was just asking 'tough questions' and happened to invent some answers that his gang was able to get the intelligence community to accept. Nothin' to see here, folks...

Posted by: Aunt Deb at February 14, 2007 06:15 AM

Slam dunk, Mr. President. You can pretend the evidence is conclusive, and the American people will
believe you. I'll even sit behind Secretary Powell at a presentation at the UN with an expression of certainty on my face for moral support. No need to thank me, Mr President, that's what the CIA if for.

Posted by: Paul Avery at February 14, 2007 08:33 AM